Nina absentmindedly picks up a magazine and has to read about her husbands affair, again. Hes never home, but his kids see him everywhere. June gets pregnant. Hes a handsome, cocky, championship surfer, but is apparently cursed with living under the shadow of his famous father. Mick tells them that he wants to be a part of their lives, and he asks to sit down with them and talk. She resents it and hints at the fact that she wants to change, but thinks her family wont let her or accept her. When Veronica finds out, he files for divorce yet again. He remembers what hed meant to do, and he drives off to profess his love for Carrie Soto. Reading about these two had my swept away to another time altogether. Malibu Rising is the seventh of Reids novels. Thinking about the need to pay Huds college tuition, Nina soon is at a photo shoot with her in bikinis, which ends up in the Jun 1979 issues of Vivant. Her father, Theo, asks for a promise that if Mick doesnt make it big in a few years that theyll return to run the restaurant. The book alternates between a narrative of Mick's early career and first marriage, and Mick's children hosting their annual blow-out Malibu beach party in 1983. Check back here once a week for an update on the book helping us pretend the sand in our laundry room is from the California shore. On the way to the precinct, the cops also find Brandons car wrapped around a tree. Jay and Hud, 9. She married professional tennis player Brandon Randall in 1982. Nina respects him for remaining humble and gracious in his tennis stardom and for pursuing a simple life with her, making stir-fry dinners and hanging out on the beach despite the fact that he could whisk her away to anywhere he wanted. Kit is getting dressed for the party. Still, Nina tells him that his love doesnt mean very much. Bad dads and dysfunctional families, what are you going to do. Jay is a professional surfer, having placed 1st and 3rd in previous United States Surfing Championships. He thinks about how Nina puts everyone else before herself. After a few weeks, its approved. So she renames the restaurant with her now-famous last name, thinking that when Mick comes back, hes going to love it. Brandon begs Nina to take him back, professing his love publicly and forcing her to say yes. At the party, Nina realizes Ashley and Hud are sleeping together, as Ashley tells Hud that she is pregnant. Meanwhile, as Nina takes her siblings with her to various surf breaks, Kit sees that theres female surfers out there, and Jay realizes he wants to get serious about his surfing career as well. Finally, Nina tells both Brandon and Carrie to leave, and Carrie apologies for interrupting the party. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. Instead, she went to work at the restaurant, which she now ran with her mother and the kids went with her during the summer. Finally, the rest of the Riva siblings show up. She gets dressed and heads out to meet her siblings at the family restaurant which they still run, partially out of a sense of familial obligation. The story of fire., Your email address will not be published. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Book Club Questions of Three Women by Lisa Taddeo, Book Club Questions for I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella, Review: A Wedding in December by Sarah Morgan, Q&A with Bart Mruz, Author of All My Clothes Were White, 10 Book Club Books to Read in Summer 2023, Book Club Questions for Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, Review: Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, Book Club Questions for The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes, Book Club Questions for Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, (Updated April 2023) Reeses Book Club Picks: Entire List, Book Club Questions for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Book Club Questions for Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan. Their whirlwind romance and disastrous attempt at being a family. Meanwhile, Mick continues helping himself to every woman he makes eye contact with, while telling himself hes nothing like his own father, who DID THE SAME DAMN THING. Afterwards, June finally admits to her mother that Mick has left her, though she promises herself that she will be more than just a woman he left. Its the day of Nina Rivas annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. As her children are telling her of their discovery, June finds herself thinking about how much Mick is missing. Dun Dun Duuuun. Then, he kisses her and asks if she has ever stolen anything. Tuesday is at the party merely to make an appearance to show shes not hiding away following her recent public scandal. In the following months, as his losses piled up, he hadnt wanted to confide in Nina and be pitied by her. Check out my book club questions here. Nina checks into the family restaurant, Rivas Seafood (renamed at a point thats still TBD). Out of necessity, Nina takes on the responsibility of raising the family and household tasks, like paying property tax or calling a roofer when the roof leaked. June drinks and thinks about how hes never coming back. Mick assumes the role of the perfect husband and father. He convinces June hes a changed man and they remarry. The story of fire." Mick convinces June that he cant reschedule or postpone his tour, but that hell come home before she gives birth to Jay. The four of them head for the beach. Afterwards, they have sex, and its clear to June that Mick lied about her being his first. Afterwards, they talk about how Mick didnt show up, even though Nina had tried to contact his manager and the courts had likely already reached out to him as the executor of Junes estate. Meanwhile, Ninas closest friend (and gorgeous fashion model), Tarine Montefiore, 27, walks in with Greg Robinson, 50, who is a big time music producer. Mysterious quote: Our family histories are simply stories. . SPOILERS for Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid If you continue reading, you will be exposed to spoilers from the above book. Ashley and Hud promise to tell Jay theyre together at that nights party (bad idea) and she lets Hud take naked photos of her (worse idea). 5) How did you feel about Junes choices throughout the novel? At 6:00 AM, Kit suggests that Nina move to Portugal if thats her dream. Clickhereto get your free audiobooks! Jay agrees. As she waits, she sees Seth kiss Vanessa. Out on the patio, Kit waits while Ricky looks for a deck of cards to show her a magic trick. As he separates them, they are both shocked to see him there. Hes now been through countless women. . TJR did it again. Oh, and maybe Hudbecause it is long past time for him to confess something to the brother from whom hes been inseparable since birth. Instead, Vaughn pals around with some friends, one of who starts throwing around and breaking dishes from the china cabinet. Nina thinks about all of the above as she wakes up, walks to the edge of the cliff her house is built on, and screams into the wind. At the time, Malibu was a rural fishing town. However, when he kisses her, Kit knows something feels off. She warns Greg that shes unlikely to be faithful to him, but its okay if hes not either. Nina helps Kit get dressed, creating an outfit for her with a pair of scissors. Its dumb as hell. There's a character who realizes they're gay for a page or two and then it's never mentioned again. June reads about, and hopes Mick might at least now call the kids. . Brandon is accepting of Ninas closeness to her siblings, which she appreciates. At the heart of the novel is a story about relationships. In what ways is Nina, who is the most worried out of all of her siblings about following in her mothers footsteps, both like and unlike June? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Follow along on Goodreads, or keep in touch via the newsletter. Jay arrives back home and comments on the fact that tomboy Kit is wearing a dress. Last year, the area had been evacuated due to a fire at one point. Cliff wind has to be much more satisfying to scream into than a pillow. Mick agrees, even though both he and June have no intention of running the restaurant, since hes certain hell make it as a singer. And then hes gone. Proceed with caution. A few weeks later, June burns dinner and serves it anyway. Nina makes her way there to see Carrie angrily yelling at Brandon for the things he said to her before he left. What did the time period and location add to the story? Mick, 23, met June, 17, in Malibu in 1956. https://itsthesway.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/sway_final-orange_simple_large_web.png, https://itsthesway.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/rising.png, Copyright The Sway. (At the party in 1980, one guy claimed he had proof Celia St. James was gay.) According to a note on a photo she found, Mick Riva was her father according to Miranda. At the house, Sergeant Purdy cuffs Tarine for hitting him. (I numbered the chapters to make it easier to reference, but the chapters are un-numbered in the book.). Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he cant stop thinking about promised shell be there. She doesnt answer, so they leave without her. Its a city that stretches across 27 miles and is bisected by the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). Hud, also 23, is a photographer. They are both excited at the prospect, but they know they need to find Jay and tell him whats going on. As he heads out, Mick is smoking a cigarette and flicks it onto the ground. Carlo cheated, Anna was unkind, and they both neglected Mick. To absolutely no ones surprise, he doesnt. 1) Why do you think Taylor Jenkins Reid chose the setting of Malibu in the 1980s? Lets talk about her character arc. When Hud or Jay offered to drop out of school as well to help out, Nina refused to let them. To really get away, she says that Nina could make things really ambiguous, like the just disappeared in the commotion of the out-of-control party. The making of that legend is chronicled in this riveting and unforgettable novel, written as an oral history of one of the biggest bands of the seventies. In a different take on a book club, The Sway invites you to follow along with synopses written by our resident aspiring book person. Brandon chose is based on its proximity to a great surf break, the house being good for parties and since there was enough rooms for Ninas siblings to all have their own if they wanted to stay over. Soon, the two are bloody and bruised as the fight continues. Back in the bedroom, Brandon drinks away his sorrows, telling himself hell find a way to win one of the women back. . Jay and Hud make peace with each other. When Nina meets Brandon, hes already famous and rich, but he woos her in a low-key way, which Nina likes. The Quick Recap and Chapter-by-Chapter Summary for Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid are below. Kit thinks shes just as good at surfing as her siblings, but she doesnt have Ninas gorgeous looks to get the same type of attention. Malibu Rising is as beachy of a read as the cover art promises, since the characters all love to surf and run a restaurant near the coast. At first Kit insists that shes into it, but finally she admits she wants to stop. She goes to party hoping that Hud might finally start noticing her in that way. Then, Nina can just get a small house and do whatever she wants, and the rest of them could visit her occasionally. Epic fail. Lara seemed unfazed by this, which made him fall in love with her. She then does Kits makeup and gives her a high ponytail. I also loved the 80s setting, and the crazy party. Mick shows up to try to reconcile with his kids, but they reject his false promises and Nina finally is able to tell him off.